In the manufacture of furniture and other similar products, it is a common practice to utilize mortise and tenon type joints to interconnect various workpieces used to construct a product. The mortise and tenon joint consists of a socket formed in a first workpiece, and a protrusion formed on a second workpiece adapted to be inserted and snuggly fit into the socket or mortise of the first workpiece. In the cabinetmaking-industry, the terms mortise and tenon often are used to describe a broad range of joints, utilizing the same method of joining a pair of workpieces. Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawings, a tenon may consists of simply a rabbet formed on the edge of a panel 104 or a tongue formed in the center of an edge of a panel 105. A tenon also may be formed on the end of a style or rail 101. Similarly, a mortise may be a simple pocket cutout 102 or an elongated slot 103 or a groove 103 extending the entire length of a panel. The term tongue and groove sometimes is used to describe the aforementioned type of joint when such joint is used to join large panels in the cabinet industry.
Typically, mortises as well as tenons are formed utilizing various multiple machine operations. One of the problems encountered in the prior art in forming joints is the requirement for clamping mortises together to permit bonding agents used to permanently secure the workpieces together to set. The reliance on clamps for securing such workpieces together presents several major disadvantages. The clamping operation requires the manufacturer to maintain a large inventory of clamps of various sizes to accommodate the many varied work pieces encountered in the course of daily operations. Additionally, a large number of assemblies are generally staged in the clamping process at a given time, awaiting the setting of the bonding agent. Still an additional problem encountered in the prior art is the necessity to provide labor for applying such clamps and subsequently removing them when the bonding agent has cured.
There have been numerous attempts in the prior art to circumvent the clamping operation, including the application of permanent mechanical fasteners such as small nails or brads. Such an operation is undesirable in the sense that it adds additional labor to the construction of the final product, and may detract from the appearance of the product, weaken the completed joint or possibly even result in damaging the material beyond salvage. Accordingly, it is the principal object of the present invention to provide an improved method of joining a pair of workpieces together in the manufacture of a product which eliminates the requirement of the use of various securing devices such as clamps, fixtures and fasteners such as small nails and brads.